"Perfectionist" has again brought me honors. I am excited to announce that I have won a top award in the highly regarded Oak Ridge (TN) Open Show 2024. My scratchboard received the “Two-Dimensional Award of Merit” (which is 2nd place after Best of Show). The juror, David Underwood, said this about my work: "The detail and accurate rendition of the subject in this piece is exquisite. This piece is evidence of great drawing skill along with expertise of the chosen medium."
This is very competitive show, “open to all artists of all media, so long as the work is original to the artist in idea, imagery and production.” The art can be 2- or 3-dimensional, and there are no limitations to the artwork size or to the artist’s geographic location.
One artist can submit up to 3 pieces, as I generally do. The number of entries keeps growing each year, with 540 this year (440 in 2023). The host venue, Oak Ridge Art Center, displays every entry, a task requiring a huge volunteer effort. Then the Art Center hosts a one-day "salon" so visitors can view all the artwork before artists go back to pick up those not accepted. The juror records a brief critique of every item entered. My three entries are shown under the light on the far right in the photo shown here, taken when all the submissions were displayed. Only 125 artworks were selected for this year's Exhibition, a tough job for any judge!
When I was creating this very detailed scratchboard there were moments when I questioned my sanity! The coiled rope - which I put off to my last section to be scratched - was particularly challenging. I tried to concentrate on one small section at a time to make it less overwhelming. My efforts have paid off! You can see and read about my inspiration, composition, and the scratchboard techniques I used in creating "Perfectionist" in my previous blog post.
The Open Show runs through November 16, 2024, at Oak Ridge Art Center, 201 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, (865) 482-1441. Hours: Sat/Sun/Mon: 1-4pm; Tue-Fri: 9am-5pm.
